Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 18.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,219 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $10,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $1,018,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 48,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,336,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 191,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 708,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,727,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 82.3% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore set a $665.00 target price on Casey’s General Stores and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $688.00 price target on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $698.20.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total value of $136,608.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,798.56. This represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Moats Maria Castanon bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $554.66 per share, for a total transaction of $166,398.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,391.98. The trade was a 59.64% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 2.7%

CASY stock opened at $691.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $648.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $583.47. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $386.04 and a 52 week high of $696.66. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.65.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.09%.

Casey’s General Stores Profile

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.